Arbroath Lifeboat Station

Arbroath Lifeboat Station is located at the harbour town and former royal burgh of Arbroath, on the North Sea coast, 16 mi northeast of Dundee, in Angus, Scotland.

A lifeboat was first stationed here in 1803 by the Arbroath Lifeboat Committee, with management of the station being transferred to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) in 1865.

The station currently operates the B-class Inshore lifeboat Dylan Rotchell (B-927), since 2024, and a smaller D-class Inshore lifeboat Robert Fergusson (D-759), on station since 2013.

History
Arbroath set up a Lifeboat Committee in 1803. With money from Lloyd's of London, and public donations, £120 was raised, and a lifeboat was ordered from Henry Greathead of South Shields, arriving on 10 Aug 1803.

By the early 1850s, Arbroath's Greathead lifeboat was no longer seaworthy. The RNLI offered to take control of the Arbroath Lifeboat Station, but £188-9s-0d had already been raised for a new lifeboat and boathouse, and a new 27-foot 10-oared Self-righting lifeboat, was ordered from Thomas Wake of Sunderland. It was to be ready in Sunderland by 1 June 1854, at an agreed price of £115. The new lifeboat arrived in Arbroath in July 1854, towed from Newcastle upon Tyne by Steam Tug. Arbroath Town Council donated £100, and offered the free use of the old boathouse, which was altered to accommodate the new boat.

Things didn't always go well in the following 10 years, difficulties getting crew, reluctance to practice, and on one occasion, a missing boat-house key-holder delaying the launch. When the RNLI offered once again to take over the station in 1865, this time the offer was accepted. This brought more formal arrangements, the appointment of Coxswain and Second Coxswain, Honorary Secretary, President and Patron. The Town Council funded construction of a new lifeboat house on East Grimsby, and a new 32-foot Self-righting 'Pulling and Sailing' (P&S) lifeboat, one with oars and sails, was constructed by Forrestt of Limehouse, and arrived on 2 January 1866. The boat was named People's Journal No.2, after the Dundee periodical The People's Journal, who appeal had funded this boat, and one at Peterhead.

1932 saw the arrival of the first Arbroath motor-lifeboat. John and William Mudie (ON 752) was built by Thorneycroft, and had a single 35 hp engine giving a speed of 7 knots and a range of 116 mi. She could carry 7 crew, and 30 survivors. In 1940, the lifeboat was sent to the aid of the vessel Foremost, which was under attack from German aircraft. The lifeboat was brought alongside whilst the vessel was still under machine-gun attack, but 7 survivors were taken off. Coxswain William Swankie was awarded the RNLI Bronze Medal, and then later the British Empire Medal.

Arbroath Lifeboat Disaster
Around 5:00pm on 26 October 1953, the cargo ship Islandmagee departed the River Tay, despite warnings of gale-force winds on the BBC shipping forecast, due at Leith at 5:00am. The vessel passed North Carr Lightship at 9:15pm. Some time later, in very poor conditions, both Anstruther and Arbroath lifeboats were launched to reports of distress flares seen from Fife Ness, but nothing was found.

The Islandmagee was never seen again, although bodies of crewmen and a ships lifeboat were recovered from the shore in the following days. The wreck was identified by divers in 1986. Calling off the search at 4:30 am, both lifeboats headed home, but due to the conditions, the Arbroath Coxswain David Bruce decided to lie off the harbour, and await daybreak before heading in. Hit by a large cross wave, the lifeboat, a non-self-righting Liverpool-class, was capsized, and 6 of the crew including the Coxswain, were lost.

The Robert Lindsay (ON 874) was taken away for repairs, but would never return. The boat would later serve at Girvan and Criccieth.

An increase in water-based leisure activity in the 1960s would see the widespread introduction of a small inflatable inshore lifeboat at many lifeboat stations, and Arbroath received a D-class (D-16) in 1968.



A Mersey-class lifeboat 12-35 Inchcape (ON 1194) was placed at Arbroath in 1993, one of only a handful of slipway-launched Mersey lifeboats. Double the speed of the previous Rother-class lifeboat 37-36 Shoreline (ON 1054), she would serve for 31 years, launch 460 times, and save 12 lives.

On 11 May 2023, it was announced that the All-weather lifeboat would be withdrawn from Arbroath, and replaced with a fast Inshore B-class lifeboat. 12-35 Inchcape departed Arbroath for the last time on 17 March 2024.

Station honours
The following are awards made at Arbroath


 * British Empire Medal
 * William Swankie, Coxswain - 1942


 * RNLI Gold Medal
 * Lt. Christopher Jobson RN, H.M. Coastguard - 1827


 * Lt. Christopher Jobson RN, H.M. Coastguard - 1827 (Second-Service Gold Lifeboat)


 * Silver Watch, awarded by the German Emperor
 * William. H. Smith, Coxswain - 1905
 * David Swankie, Second Coxswain - 1905
 * Peter Swankie, Bowman - 1905


 * RNLI Bronze Medal
 * William Swankie, Coxswain - 1940


 * Monetary Award, awarded by the German Emperor
 * Arbroath Lifeboat Crew - 1905


 * A Framed Letter of Thanks signed by the Chairman of the Institution
 * Allan Russell, Mechanic - 2001
 * Thomas Yule, Second Coxswain - 2001
 * Peter Willis, crew member - 2001

Roll of Honour
In memory of those lost whilst serving Arbroath lifeboat.


 * Fatally injured under the lifeboat carriage during launch, 24 September 1911,
 * Peter Swankie, Bowman


 * Lifeboat capsized whilst crossing the Harbour Bar, after launching to reported flares, likely from the vessel Islandmagee, 27 October 1953
 * David Bruce, Coxswain, 48
 * Harry Swankie, Mechanic, 63
 * William Swankie (Jnr), Asst. Mechanic, 30
 * Tom Adams, Bowman, 33
 * Charles Cargill, 28
 * David Cargill, 29

All-weather lifeboats

 * All-weather lifeboat withdrawn in 2024

B-class

 * Pre ON numbers are unofficial numbers used by the Lifeboat Enthusiast Society to reference early lifeboats not included on the official RNLI list.